1st run in the snow

sunday was time to see how much snow was in the mountains. we could see it from our window at home, but mike, kris and i needed to experience it for ourselves. 1st hand.

going up beaver lake rd.

four by fogging

saturday was time for kris to take out his sidekick to get in adventured up.  him and steve were inside, and mike rode with me in truck 2.

it was really really foggy.  we started up the back way to chute lake around 1.

going up in the fog

skunked at beaver lake

it had been too long since the last time i was canoeing. 6 days. mike and i decided to remedy that by fishing out on beaver lake. we didn't catch any, but we had sweet times.

We hit our regular spots and a few new areas on the way.  i had one on the line that jumped twice and then was gone.  After quite a few hours of fishing, we headed to the island.  maybe the last people there were Kris, Tom, Steve and I.

pulled up in our regular spot

sunday ice recon at beaver lake

is the ice off at beaver lake? can we fish there yet? can we canoe? can we even drive in to the site? inquiring minds wanted to know. so mike and i went to find out on sunday evening.

but the most pressing question is...  can i use a golf ball on my clutch cylinder since the original became a mushy chunk of rubber?  Well... yes you can.

my new clutch cylinder lid. 

one the clutch was sorted out, it was time to answer the other questions.

the road into beaver lake site

The road in was a little snowy.  nothing major.  so in we went.

the ice.  still there.

The ice is still there.  about 15 feet of clear water along the shore.  pretty much the same schedule as last year.  i checked last years blog posts, and maybe we are a little ahead this year.  a little.

truck and fire shot

had a fire, shot some guns.  good times.

found a MIA soldier from last time

Mike also had a ping pong ball full of gunpowder. we used it to thin the troops a bit.

I think a camping trip is in order. next weekend we are gonna set up some tents here and try some very early season fishing. might bring the canoe. you should come.

feb 24, in which mikes new truck gets stuck

so mike got a new 4runner. we went and picked it up on saturday in vernon. he decided to get it stuck and i needed more firewood. all the winter adventures have run my stockpile to almost nothing. we headed up to postil. the mud pits were pretty much frozen, except for this one spot near the edge. mike parked it in there. i towed him out.

first stuck for mike.  maybe the first one ever for his truck.

After getting the truck out.  we shot these guns.  mike can hit a moving balloon at 300 yards no problem.  any colour too.

12ga. and sks

Also, it appears postil is still a parking lot for unwanted/stolen trucks.  someone left the keys in this one.

wanna race?

2 trucks. and the tow strap.  i left it like that all morning.  might need it more.

that bumper looks sweet.  another part of truck 1 re-incarnated. 

This truck guards the entrance to the playground.  has a larry's cycle sticker on the dash.  thats funny because i used to work there.

We were home by 2 and it was a solid mission.  trucks got stuck, guns were fired, and firewood was collected.  good times.

back to fish lake... now with fish!!

If any lake has fish in it, it's fish lake. so thats where we went. we being roderic the 3rd, mike, 2 other doods, and me. we took mccolough rd up and hiked the 1.5 km to the lake. it was a cloudy day, but so what?

fish lake cabins

mike.... fishing

The lake is small and shallow.  and popular with fishermans it appears as well.  there were about 10 others out on the lake.

It was a normal day. no expectations for fish.  rod and i were talking and his fishing rod fell over.  turns out.... IT WAS PULLED OVER BY A FISH!!!!!!!

the first fish of the winter. 2.5 lbs.

we walked around the lake and checked it out as well. a few cabins for sale. pretty cool spot.

celebrating with an adult beverage

layercake mountain

I'm glad rod could come with us and break his 17 years fishless spell.  you could too, but you gotta play to win.  or play and still not catch fish, in my case.

first snow

It was snowing sunday morning. not at my house, but i could see it falling in the mountains. since i never took the winter tires off my truck, might as well go get them white. the snow started falling on the truck about 15 minutes up from my place. mike lau and i were pumped. fishing gear and pellet guns in the truck, and we both had long underwear on.

doreen lake.  same view as last week, just whiter

parked on the way up

we decided to head back to aberdeen lake.  we didn't really give it a good explore last weekend, so we went back this weekend to take care of unfinished business.  we drove almost completely around the lake and ended up at a sweet little camp spot.  it was sweeter after we put the old tires littering the site into the back of the truck for a proper removal.

finally settled at a sweet spot on aberdeen lake

Needless to say, it was a little chilly.  the roaring fire really helped.  we fished (mike got 2) and shot some guns and generally dominated the situation. 

mike casting into aberdeen lake

On the way down, we decided to take the awesome way.  its a trail we'd done before, and this was the perfect time of year to do it... so we did.

the trail down was a bit wet in places.

We stopped for firewood near beaver lake, and headed back home.  another solid week.  why weren't you there?  really.  i want to know.  you can come next weekend.  should be good.

island lake... should be called "really small fish lake"

Sunday may 20th, time to canoe. and fish. mike, tom and i all piled into truck 2 and headed past beaver lake to island lake. it is part of a 4 lake chain that we decided would be a good place to do some fishing and canoeing. The forestry site is pretty easy to get to, and we didn't waste much time getting ripping.

launching pen 15 at island lake site

mike and i lighting the fire.  how else do you cook chicken?

forgot the bbq tongs.  necessity is the mother of invention.  and possibly frustration the father

the previously mentioned chicken, cooking.  tongs in action

the canoe beached at the our cook spot on deer lake

there are fish in the lake, but they are so small that we didn't keep any of them.  Great spot to canoe, lousy spot to fish.

my camera decided that the batteries, although charged all night, were going to be dead this morning.  wtf man.  thanks to tom for providing some sweet shots.  more to come possibly.

a solid sunday on beaver lake... with fish!!

Man was Sunday awesome. Tom and I packed the canoe on truck 2 and headed up to beaver lake. We were expecting ice on the lake, since Friday night there was still a lot. We were blown away by the 0% ice factor. i guess plus 25 does that to ice. we met mike lau up there and proceeded to do some fishing. I'd never caught a fish in BC before, and this was going to be the year where i finally break that streak.

beaver lake.  where did the ice go?  it was there on friday

The sun was blazing and we didn't waste any time getting on the water.

me.  canoeing.

We found some ice in a little bay.  We reeled in our lines and headed straight for it.  What a blast!  plowing through the icy slush and trying not to pull a titanic.

our swath of destruction through the ice

tom.  the canoe.  ice.

We explored around an island and made our way through a literal maze of dead heads.

paddling through the dead flood zone

up a small creek we found some crazy water fall foam.  Know what i mean?

tom and his foam

We also found fish!!  i broke my dry spell.  had tons of luck.  so much it wasn't luck.  it was skill.  Landed 3 trout and christine and i had fish for dinner.

fish 3

We checked out another island.  Christine and I had canoed past it last year and saw a camp site on it.  This time we stopped to check it out.  It is where we will be spening May long weekend me thinks.  You are invited.

may long, this is where we will be.  camping and fishing on this island

mike.  in his boat.

What a solid adventure.  Can't wait to do it again next weekend.  Same bat time, same bat channel.

a quick friday night at beaver lake

Needed to get out for the evening.  We did.  Here are the shots.  From beaver lake.

Mike and Tom and Truck 2

Beaver Lake.  Check last weekend for a comparison of the ice.

It was sweet to get away, even for the evening. Ate some hotdogs, drank a beer, and generally chilled out.  Where were you?

woodlake "fishing"

Sunday.  truly a day of sun.  Mike Lau and i took our fishing rods on a 5 hour tour of wood lake.  No fish, 3 teases.  what a great day.  1st day of sunscreen.  A day well spent in mike's boat.

 mike

 the new highway between oyama and winfield

 terrace mountain

 the view from me

a little saturday mission

so we went for a little drive with mike lau. Got stuck at the postil rec site. some guy in a trooper pulled us out. i gave him a beer. then we got stuck again. dug ourselves out.

after that humbling experience we took a little casual spin up postil to our favourite firewood spot and had a fire. good times as usual.


the tow strap still out. might need it again, so why bother putting it away?

the trail was pretty snowed over, so we played it really really safe and stopped earlier than usual. didn't want to do any more truck digging that day.

while we were up there, a 1969 mustang gt500 convertible drove by. can't believe we didn't have to pull it out.

more to come. i promise.

chute lake ice fishing and fire

friday i finished work at noon. i earned it after putting in 2 long days on wednesday and thursday. I picked up mike and we headed up to chute lake to meet ian and jesse. we (read "i")thought it might be cool to try the same route up as we took on the toy run in november. we had 1st track most of the way up.


until here. we just could not get up the steep hill in 18 inches of freshish snow. the only tracks we made past here were boot tracks.

so, we turned around, went back down and then went up gillard FSR. not too bad. then along the KVR to chute late, where jesse and ian and 3 dogs were already waiting for us. so was a fire.


we made some hole in the ice and promptly went back to the fire, checking on our hooks hourly.

it was a great trip. even though, on the way out i got stuck in a snowy ditch and, in the process of getting pulled out by ian, 1/2 tore off the front bumper, 3/4 tore off the passanger side mirror, and 100% dented the front fender. pics of that to follow.

and no, we didn't catch any fish.